Welcome again to another edition of Author Etiquette. Apocalypse Ink Productions started this segment a few months ago and so far it’s been a great success. AIP loves authors. We wouldn’t be in this business if we didn’t; but we have seen situations blow up that could have been prevented with just a little bit of patience, communication and common sense. Whether you are a new author or a pro, it’s sometimes handy to have a small reminder on how to handle a situation before it it gets ugly.

The past year has been difficult for a lot of authors. We’ve witnessed several situations where writers have found themselves cornered by either what they’ve said, what they’ve participated in (willingly or not), and what they’ve done. Not all of it has been intentional and some of it has been carefully orchestrated to put the author in a bad light. But friends have been put in the spotlight and it hasn’t always been comfortable.

Some authors are very open with their opinions and post them regularly on social media and their blogs. They feel comfortable with their views and want to share them. Other authors purposely pose discussion topics on their feeds to encourage discussion especially with current hot topics. These authors understand that these discussions can cause backlash and are prepared to deal with it. Not all authors are.

Even though authors use words, what we put on a page on the first round isn’t always what we want to say. Most authors write several drafts of a story before sending it out for publication. By then we’ve carefully picked words and phrases selected to clarify our meaning. However, posting on the internet, especially social media can leave the author open to uncomfortable, embarrassing and sometimes damaging discussions and arguments simply because they posted a comment that wasn’t clear or touched on a hot topic and may not have thought out what they want to say.

When an author shoots from the hip and makes a quick comment, they may not always be as clear as they would like to be. This can lead to misunderstandings as to the intent of the post. Compound that with social media—where a discussion could be broken up by several posts and conversations—things can get taken out of context or completely misinterpreted.

This is why every author should think carefully about what they say and how they say it especially when dealing with touchy subjects, prickly people and delicate situations.

Usually you are safe posting about neutral things such as pets and kids and normal daily activities. But other subjects that have the potential to cause trouble such a personal opinions must be handled more carefully. Even choosing to participate in a discussion that someone else has started can be a point of potential trouble. A seemingly innocent question could be a baited trap, to either test out the social or political position of the writer or to lead into an argument. It’s a common ploy especially in the age of internet trolls. And you never know who’s watching.

Some authors choose to lay low and not participate in many of the volatile discussions. It can be safer that way, especially if the author does not feel comfortable engaging in arguments. But sometimes you do have to respond. If you feel you have a position where you need to make a comment do it carefully. Write out your response before hand. Craft it to say exactly what you mean. Use clear and concise words. Keep it short. Then set it aside.

Most authors will admit that they’ve wanted to join into an argument or discussion, wrote out a post then waited for a few hours or days before deciding whether to post or to delete it. Sometimes the discussion dies down on its own and no other action is needed. Othertimes the post—with a few revisions—is necessary to either keep the position fresh in people’s minds or make your position on the subject clear.

But even if you are careful, sometimes either you slip up and say the wrong thing or someone misinterprets what you wrote. What do you do?

First of all, own up to a mistake. If you owe someone an apology, do so as quickly as possible and preferably in private where you can discuss the situation. If you’ve posted the wrong information, make the effort of correcting it. Post an edit comment to the post where you apologize and try to make corrections. Don’t just edit the post so that the incorrect information disappears. This can lead to a lot of confusion as people try to find out what triggered the argument in the first place.

Second, don’t engage with trolls. There are people out there who simply want to start an argument and keep it going. There are several tactics that they use to do this. Learn to identify them and either ignore the argument or learn to evade the discussion.

When fronted by a trollish question or behavior, the best advice is avoidance. By not engaging in arguments and not answering baited questions you aren’t putting yourself into a position where your words can be twisted against you. If necessary you can block the posts so that you no longer have to see them.

Third, learn when to disengage. At times you will need to step back from the discussion. With certain topics, things can get heated very quickly. If you feel overwhelmed, back away. Let things resolve itself. If you need to engage again later, make sure to read through all posts so you can follow the entire discussion. If the discussion has concluded, don’t revive it unless you are prepared to handle a new influx of arguments.

Lastly, try to promote discussion. Hot topics can get heated very quickly and sometimes you will get caught in the middle between two sides. If you can, direct the argument into a discussion so that both sides can lay out the issues. Don’t expect a resolution but hope for understanding.

We hope that none of you are put in the hot seat in an argument on the internet, but realize that it’s not always avoidable. We hope these tips help you when you are posting on the internet. Always remember that what is posted on the internet can be seen by thousands in just a few minutes. Be aware of what discussions you are participating in. Choose your words carefully.

My name's Keith Murphy. For nearly two decades, my partner, Danny Roark, and I hunted down the dark things that prey on normal humans. But, on what we thought was a routine job, something went wrong. Now the end of the world is coming at us like a freight train on steroids.

When Danny goes down, it's me who has to figure out what those fools left over from the Raven cult have planned. It's a puzzle I've got to figure out before those doors open wider and real monsters—ones that my rag-tag, mostly demon, army can't handle—come through.

Roark was the one who knew about all this magic and end or the world stuff, not me. I guess I'll figured it out as I go.

Last year, the writing community lost a very wonderful man. Jay Lake was a thoughtful, open and wonderful writer. He was greatly admired by many people and his loss is still felt today.

Apocalypse Ink Productions is happy to see that his writing legacy is still standing strong. Jay has been nominated for 3 Endeavour Awards this year. The Endeavour Award is given to a Fantasy or Science Fiction author residing in the Pacific Northwest. Nominations are collected through February and judged by a panel. Finalists are announced in July. In November at OryCon, the winners are announced.

Jay was author or co-author of the following books which have been nominated:

That Jay’s books has been nominated affirms that his writing has touched readers and authors everywhere. While he’s not here in body; he’s here in spirit.

If you would like to read more about Jay Lake, please check out Jay Lake’s Process of Writing. It contains a collection of thoughts and blog posts from Jay as he begins his journey on becoming a writer. It’s a great reference for authors in every stage of their career.

Crusade, Book 3 of the Flotsam trilogy by Peter M. Ball.To be released on July 15, 2015.

My name's Keith Murphy. For nearly two decades, my partner, Danny Roark, and I hunted down the dark things that prey on normal humans. But, on what we thought was a routine job, something went wrong. Now the end of the world is coming at us like a freight train on steroids.

When Danny goes down, it's me who has to figure out what those fools left over from the Raven cult have planned. It's a puzzle I've got to figure out before those doors open wider and real monsters—ones that my rag-tag, mostly demon, army can't handle—come through.

Roark was the one who knew about all this magic and end or the world stuff, not me. I guess I'll figured it out as I go.

Shadow Minion, Sarah, and I got to meet face-to-face at LepreCon41 after 18 months of working together online. This is what I said in my personal blog about it:

"Also, I got to meet my Shadow Minion, Sarah Hendrix, who is as awesome in person as she is online. She took to being my in-person assistant like, well, my shadow. She got me to where I needed to be (Seriously, I have the direction sense of a stoned newt. I couldn’t find my room even once without her.), made me eat, even when I was cranky, found out all the answers, and even played in my Big Demons in Little China game. There’s already an offer on the table to bring the both of us to an LA convention."

It looks like the two of us will be doing more conventions together. We shall see.